"I don't get too bent up about criticism, and I want to take the high road here, but that's insulting my integrity.

"If something happened, I couldn't get another job in baseball? Is that what people think?''

Moore was reacting specifically to a column by former Toronto Blue Jays executive Keith Law on ESPN.com. Law blasted the Royals' decision to trade their top prospect, outfielder Wil Myers and three others to the Tampa Bay Rays for starters James Shields and Wade Davis, predicting it will be the end of Moore's tenure in Kansas City.

"The deal reeks of a GM feeling pressure to improve short-term performance to keep his job,'' Law wrote, "which is a terrible situation for any executive both personally and for the way it can inhibit his ability to make rational decisions.''

Moore, whose contract expires after the 2014 season, was fuming, but not from being on the hot seat. If the Royals don't contend, he knows he likely is out. It's the nature of the beast.

You don't think Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is facing the same pressure in Los Angeles, not only having the biggest payroll in baseball history, but with a former GM [Gerry Hunsicker] on his staff with a five-year contract?

You don't think Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik is unaware what's at stake if they can't sign free agent Josh Hamilton to ignite the offense and fan base? Or Neal Huntington in Pittsburgh? Dan O'Dowd in Colorado? Larry Beinfest in Miami? Chris Antonetti in Cleveland? Or even Jerry Dipoto with the Angels?

"There's far less pressure than the other way,'' Colletti said, recalling the recent past when the Dodgers were in bankruptcy. "You're accountable. You're expected to win. That's the way it should be.

"You can talk about all of the sabermetrics in the world. There's only one stat that tells your story. Wins.''

When you don't win, you get fired. It's that simple. It's the way it should be. Moore knows it. And he sure isn't scared by it.

All he knows is that the Royals haven't won a darn thing for 27 years, and he would do this trade whether he had a lifetime contract, or a week-to-week gig.

Sure, it pained him to give up Myers, USA TODAY Sports' Minor League Player of the Year after hitting 37 home runs at Class AA and AAA. But he's simply a prospect. Prospects are merely prospects until proven at the big-league level. Myers could turn out to be the next Gary Sheffield, or the next Billy Ashley. There are no guarantees.

This trade gives the Royals their first legitimate opportunity to contend since the glory days of George Brett, Frank White, Hal McRae and Bret Saberhagen. If Moore didn't believe they were good enough to win now, he wouldn't have seized the moment, grabbing the best pitcher on the trade market, and ruining the plans of the Texas Rangers and everyone else who wanted Shields.

"We've proven that we can build a good farm system,'' Moore says, "but now we have to prove we can win at the major-league level. The way you develop a winning culture is by winning major league games. It's time for us to start winning at the major league level."

That just wasn't going to happen when your staff ace was Jeremy Guthrie, with only two starters who pitched 185 innings last season, yielding the highest on-base percentage of any team in the American League. They now have an ace in Shields - one of only five pitchers who has pitched at least 200 innings the last six seasons - and a legitimate No. 3 or No. 4 starter in Davis for at least the next two years.

Who knows how many games the Royals will win now, but there's no reason they won't at least prevent the Detroit Tigers from having a bye into the playoffs in the vulnerable AL Central.

"People can second-guess it all they want,'' Moore says, "but we believe we are doing the right thing here.''

When you're running a franchise that has produced one winning season since 1994, and at least 90 losses in 10 of the last 12 seasons, you owe it to your players, fan base and community to try and win now.

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